Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd has acquired 8,317 shares of Meta Platforms, valued at approximately $4.79 million, making Meta its second largest holding.
• Institutional investors currently own 79.91% of Meta's stock, indicating strong market support for the company.
• Meta Platforms has reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and reflecting a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase.

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,317 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $4,794,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.6% of Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $3.76 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $747.72. 11,870,069 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,484,792. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $727.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $657.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.